Solid freeform fabrication (SFF), also known as rapid prototyping, is a designation for a group of fabrication technologies that produce three-dimensional objects using additive formation steps without the use of part-specific tooling (e.g., molds or dies). The three-dimensional object is commonly produced from a three-dimensional representation devised using Computer Aided Design (CAD). The three-dimensional representation is a layer-by-layer slicing of the object into consecutive two-dimensional layers which may be fabricated and accrued to produce the three-dimensional object. SFF has been used to create, for example, prototypes or functional final products in a variety of industries, including the aerospace, electronics, medical, dental, architecture, archeology, and biomedical engineering fields.
Exemplary fabrication techniques encompassed by the “rapid prototyping” designation include techniques which involve the use of lasers to solidify successively bound layers of photopolymer (e.g., stereolithography), and techniques which involve the use of CO2 lasers to fuse layers of powdered build and support materials or etch patterns into polyethylene-coated paper materials (e.g., selective laser sintering and laminated object manufacturing, respectively). Other fabrication techniques include, for example, techniques wherein a binder is deposited into a layer of powdered material to form each successive layer of build material, while the unbound powder acts as the support material (e.g., 3-D printing) and techniques involving bulk-jetting build and support materials from inkjet print-heads or other suitable dispensing mechanisms (e.g., fused deposition modeling and thermal phase change and photopolymer phase change inkjet technologies).
Materials that may be used for the fabrication of build supports in bulk-jetting SFF systems, that do not require mechanical or harsh chemical removal, that are non-hazardous, and which may be used in thermal inkjet methods would be advantageous. Further, methods for fabricating solid three-dimensional objects that make use of build supports that utilize environmentally benign materials for the fabrication of such build supports would be desirable. Use of build supports that may be safely and easily removed would also be desirable.